POS0206 EVALUATION OF SALIVARY GLANDS ULTRASOUND IN THE FRENCH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS COHORT BCD
Authors: R. Rabault, A. Saraux, E. Courtois Communier, D. Guellec, T. Marhadour, D. Cornec, C. Houssais, A. Tison, P. Kervarrec, A. Roudaut, J. Allain, V. De Saint Pierre, G. Carvajal Alegria, V. Devauchelle-Pensec, S. Jousse-Joulin
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2022)

Background The prevalence of salivary glands ultrasound (SGUS) abnormalities in Sjögren’s syndrom (SS) is well described (2) . However, the prevalence is still unknown in rheumatic inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Objectives The main objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of SGUS parenchymal structural abnormalites in patients with RA. Secondary objectives were: i) to study correlation between disease duration and the SGUS OMERACT score and ii) to study correlation between duration of sicca syndrome and the SGUS OMERACT score. Methods 561 patients with RA satisfying ACR/EULAR 2010 classification criterias were included in 10 french centers in the prospective cohort BCD, comparing joint ultrasonography to clinical follow-up. Cross sectionnal SGUS examination (parotid and submandibular) was performed in a substudy of this cohort. The new OMERACT-SGUS scoring system (1) was used and clinical, biological, immunological and radiological data were collected. Results 100 patients agreed to be included in this substudy of BCD cohort, and a total of 98 SGUS patients data were evaluated (lack of SGUS data for 2 patients). Most patients were women (81%), mean age 59 years, with time from RA diagnosis of 11 years on average. The mean CRP-DAS-28 at baseline was at 3.2 with a third of patients in remission at inclusion. Anti-CCP antibodies or RF was positive in 92 patients (92%). 27 patients (27%) complained of eye dryness and 20 (20%) of mouth dryness. 12 (12%) suffered from both. The levels of self-reported fatigue was higher than in the general group of RA included in the study. Two thirds of patients benefited from csDMARD, with a third treated with bDMARDS. 33 (33%) also benefited from a corticosteroid treatment. Among 98 patients, 22 (22.5%) had at least one salivary gland scored grade 1 or more, this number was reduced to 18 patients (18.4%) when considering only the parotid glands. 7 patients (7.1%) had at least one salivary gland scored grade 2 or more, with a number reduced to 4 patients (4.1%) when considering only the parotids. Only one patient (1%) had a parotid gland scored 3. In the 7 patients presenting significant abnormalities in SGUS (grade 2 or more), 5 patients had either dry eye or dry mouth symptoms (71,4%). Conclusion Our findings suggest that 7% of RA patients present significant SGUS abnormalities according to OMERACT scoring system, associated with clinical sicca syndrome in 71% of cases. There was no significant association between the duration of rheumatoid arthritis and the OMERACT score (Spearman coefficient for correlation -0,028, p = 0,99). There was also no significant association found between the duration of sicca symptoms and the OMERACT score (Spearman coefficient for correlation 0,025, p = 0,89). This study highlights the importance of SGUS assessment in RA sicca patients to improve monitoring and follow-up in routine clinical practice. References [1]Jousse-Joulin S, D’Agostino MA, Nicolas C, Naredo E, Ohrndorf S, Backhaus M, Tamborrini G, Chary-Valckenaere I, Terslev L, Iagnocco A, Collado P, Hernández-Díaz C, Gandjbakhch F, Schmidt WA, Filippou G, Dejaco C, Stradner MH, Mortada MA, Hočevar A, Chrysidis S, El Mardenly G, de Agustín JJ, Thiele R, MacCarter DK, Finzel S, Hanova P, Zabotti A, Glaser C, Alavi Z, Hammenfors DS, Gatineau F, Bruyn GA. Video clip assessment of a salivary gland ultrasound scoring system in Sjögren’s syndrome using consensual definitions: an OMERACT ultrasound working group reliability exercise. Ann Rheum Dis. 2019 Jul;78(7):967-973. [2]Zhang X, Feng R, Zhao J, Wang Y, He J, Liu L, Cheng Y, Yao H, Tang S, Chen J, Zhang S, Zhang Z, Wang Q, He J, Li Z. Salivary gland ultrasonography in primary Sjögren’s syndrome from diagnosis to clinical stratification: a multicentre study. Arthritis Res Ther. 2021 Dec 20;23(1):305. Disclosure of Interests None declared